Who'll It Be?
by Bloodlustful
Summary: Post Series. Balto, Jenna, Dingo, Kodi, Dusty, Kirby, Ralph, Aleu, Niju and Nava are all frozen in ice prisons while asleep and defrosted in the year 2000, but so are Steele and the hunter who nearly killed Aleu before and is now Steele's owner. When the two villains capture Aleu and Kodi, the choice must be made as to which one lives...by you, believe it or not! Read and see why!
1. Chapter 1

Ah, my fellow Balto fans! Nice to see you all again!

In this story, which takes place after the third Balto movie, a great deal has happened, part of which is that the heroic canines, be they wolf, half-wolf or pet dog of this sort or that sort, are presented with a truly cruel choice by none other than the fiendish Steele!

You know, the "sadistic choice", like we first saw in the 2002 Spider-Man movie, and later on in 2006's Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, for just two of many examples of that sort of thing in one form of media or another.

Hey, I made an Oliver And Company fanfic revolving around shit like this titled "Rita's Nightmare" before, so I decided to further things out with that kind of story, in this case with a Balto fanfic, and it's in reality, not in a nightmare like was the case with Rita in the above story.

I also had that type of thing as part of my Alpha And Omega story "The Wolf Whacker".

Okay, so here's how things are. On one night, numerous individuals in Nome, Alaska fall asleep but the night is so cold, snowy and icy that said freezing weather, in some cases, makes its way into where they are sleeping and freezes them solid.

Although none are killed, they are imprisoned in the ice blocks while asleep, not unlike what was the case with Captain America in Marvel Comics when he was trapped in that ice after helping serve in World War II.

When they wake up, they find themselves in the year 2000, and although it is possible for them to adjust to it and learn all that they need to in due time, the problem is that they have one hell of a big, well, problem they're going to be facing first.

See, in order to try and get revenge on Balto and take Jenna for himself afterwards, Steele, having found the ideal equipment and materials for the dastardly plot he suddenly thinks up, having found out about Balto's family before the freezing sleep that happened to him along with the canine heroes, arranges things with the hunter who tried to kill Aleu before, who also got the frozen rest in those blocks of ice, and the way that they stayed as they were and are before waking up in the first year of the 21st century made it so that humans and dogs from that time back in the second half of the first third of the 20th century can understand one another's words in comprehensible English now.

After the deal is made by Steele and said hunter(who Steele had become the pet hunting dog for, anyway, so he perfectly well agrees to this arrangement and plot), Aleu and Kodi are captured via being taken by surprise and indeed caught off guard by the two villains, and they are then chained up so that it is impossible for them to escape.

Once they are found by the other canines, Steele and the hunter both tell those other canines all about what is going on and make it clear that there's no way in hell that Aleu and Kodi can both be saved, and so they have to choose to save one while simultaneously causing the other one to die.

Of course the others are trapped in a state of mental, emotional and spiritual torture, and they're all being clawed at from the inside, but they've only got so much time before Steele and/or the hunter are tired of waiting for any one or more of them to make the decision and thus just kill both of them off.

Furthermore, Kodi understandably begs his fellow canines to save Aleu and let him lose his life, while Aleu just as understandably pleads with them to rescue Kodi and allow her to be killed, so this makes it all the more painful, scary, cutting and torturous.

Who will survive and who will die?

Will Kodi be rescued while Aleu meets her doom?

Will Aleu be saved as Kodi meets his maker?

And what of stopping Steele and the hunter?

Believe it or not, it'll actually be up to you after reading the first chapter of this very suspenseful and scary story, then finding out about a surprise twist once you're done reading this part of it.

THINGS TO NOTE:

Making this story take place in the year 2000, with the characters falling asleep and being frozen without aging before waking up there just felt right and cool(pun intended)for some reason, so there you go.

This was, as you might have guessed from them being given as examples of this kind of theme above, partially inspired by the 2002 Spider-Man movie scene in which the Green Goblin gives the title character the, as he calls it, and thus as I labeled it, "sadistic choice", and the video game Marvel Ultimate Alliance where that very kind of cruel choice is shown in the Mephisto's Realm level.

I do not own any of the characters, as they all belong to the Balto franchise, and I own characters in neither the 2002 Spider-Man movie nor the video game Marvel Ultimate Alliance, for they both belong to their respective creators, and I don't own anything about the aforementioned Captain America or how he was given the "frozen but alive" treatment, because that was made by, and indeed belongs to, Marvel Comics.

Who'll It Be?

Something most unexpected and unusual had occurred, right after quite a few things had happened beforehand.

You see, first of all, during part of Aleu's time as alpha of her pack, which she had proven to be very adept at, Niju had righted his wrongs after seeing the light and how foolish and blinded by fear he'd been before and what it led to, even though it took a very long time for him to complete said atonement, which required him to do various good deeds while laying as low as possible until they were completed.

However, once he did so, he made sure to pick the right time and place to show himself again, and, upon meeting up with Aleu, Nava and the other wolves in their pack, he let them all know what had happened, how different he now was and how sorry he was for making it so that his being so scared of change caused him to become something he wouldn't have been otherwise.

Seeing the sincerity in Niju's words, plus knowing he was never truly evil and did not ask for whatever happened in his past to spark his fear of change, Aleu and Nava allowed him back into the back, with the other wolves welcoming him, with Niju adjusting to the change in how things were and becoming one with that pack.

Second of all, Balto and Jenna were visited by Rosy who wanted to see them and their offspring, and after her parents decided that it was the least that they could do, given how cruel they were to Balto in the past and how much he proved himself a hero and utterly undeserving of such unjust unkindness simply because he was part wolf, and Rosy had such a blast playing with Kodi and Dingo, who were the only offspring, sons or otherwise, of her husky and that husky's mate present at the time, and soon enough, she also met the sled team who Kodi lead which consisted of Kirby, Ralph and Dusty, the latter being Kodi's mate, it having become that way recently at this time.

Third of all, the aforementioned Niju eventually fell in love with Aleu and vice versa, and, after a time, they became mates, as well.

And fourth of all, for the one bad one of these things, Steele had been living a wild kind of life and surviving successfully, but he'd lately met up with the hunter who previously tried to kill Aleu and, after a short meeting and them getting to know one another, became his hunting dog.

But they'd not started any hunts yet, and wouldn't, because one night, it was so cold, snowy and icy that some places, though not all, were filled with enough coldness and the iciness that came with it so that the individuals in those places, or, alternatively, any and all ones who were within the range of such a level of cold making an entrance into their place, would be fully and literally frozen inside solid blocks of ice.

They didn't die, mind you, especially since they were fast asleep at the time that their being frozen solid like that happened, but it would be decades before they were unfrozen and awoken, and the ones who this happened to consisted of the following individuals.

Out in the wild, Aleu, Niju and Nava were put into these blocks of ice on that night, and the rest of Aleu's wolf pack, who she'd led as competently as ever beforehand, upon seeing them in those ice prisons the next morning, believed them dead and thus gave a howling requiem of mourning and tears before burying them in the right places that had enough snow as a respectful way of bidding them farewell. It would be a long while before they got over what they thought was the death of three of their best members, their top leader or otherwise, both before and after a new leader was selected when the time came for that being quite important.

Additionally, much the same thing happened to Balto, Jenna, Kodi, Dingo, Dusty, Kirby and Ralph, with those who were in houses being within range of that freezing cold despite how their human owners were out of range and thus did not get frozen in giant ice blocks, which meant, of course, that their owners also thought they died and grieved for them along with the rest of the town upon the rest of that town finding out, with just as much of a requiem and respectful snow burial given to them by the townsfolk, as well as the other Nome dogs, Boris, Stella and the rest of the animals who lived in that town, as was given by the wolves in Aleu's pack for their leader, her mate and their oldest member.

Of course Rosy was crying for what seemed like her dead pets as her parents comforted her, and as for Steele and the hunter who now owned him as his hunting dog?

Why, the cabin that they lived in was in the middle of the woods, which was blanketed with snow and ice at this time, so of course the cold of the night and its essence, as well as the result of that essence, turned them into ice blocks despite not actually ending their lives, and, for that matter, froze the entire interior of the cabin.

By the time all of the ones who this had happened to finally thawed out, it was the year 2000.

Just after it happened, Balto was going: "Hmmmm…whaaaa…what was all of that?" But then he saw that he was in the middle of a beautiful summer meadow, which was utterly devoid of any humans at this time, and so were Jenna, Kodi, Dusty, Kirby, Ralph and Dingo.

"What the?!" Balto exclaimed. "Jenna? Kodi? Dusty? Kirby? Ralph? Dingo?"

"Dear?" Jenna let out.

"Dad?" Kodi and Dingo said in unison.

"Balto?" went out Dusty, Kirby and Ralph, also in unison.

"Where have we gone?" Jenna then asked.

"We're in a meadow, by the looks of things!" went out Kodi.

"How did we get here?" Balto asked.

"And for that matter, how long have we been asleep? Things look so much different from any way they would look anywhere, Nome or otherwise, here!" Ralph spoke.

Just then, they had become surprised and confused before, but now they got the surprise of their lives, because suddenly, standing right in front of them, they saw Aleu, Niju and Nava.

"ALEU!" they all shouted at once, but were also shocked to see her flanked by Niju and Nava, especially the former, since Balto had, just a few days before he and the others were frozen, told everyone present who didn't know about what happened with Aleu all about it, and that meant that Niju's part of it all was included.

"Oh, papa! Mom! Kodi! Dingo!" Aleu let out. "Thank God we found you! But who are you guys?"

"I'm Kirby!" said Kirby.

Then Ralph told her: "My name is Ralph!"

Following this, Dusty responded: "I am called Dusty!"

"But now our questions for you, my sweet, darling daughter." Balto said, causing Aleu to blush a little bit. "First of all, what is Niju doing here with you? We wonder why Nava is, as well, but Niju, you were her enemy and my own last time we saw you!"

"Yes, I was, but I'll save my love here the trouble of explaining you everything!" Niju replied.

"Wait a second…your love?" Jenna asked, opening her eyes incredibly widely.

"Are you saying that you and Aleu are now mates?!" Kodi cried out.

"Yes," Niju nodded, "but if you don't fucking mind, I've got loads of explaining to do."

"You've got that right." Balto nodded.

Niju then filled them in on everything that they needed to know, and after that, Aleu said the following words.

"Thank you for, as you put it, saving me the trouble."

"Of course, dear." Niju said, to which Aleu nodded and then she stated: "Now, I am well aware you all are wondering how the hell we got here, so we'll take turns filling you in, though I would like to point out its quite a story and might take a bit, so get ready."

Nava started it by saying: "When we fell asleep, we somehow, as we'd find out God only knows how much time later, got put in solid, thick blocks of ice, and although we didn't die, we didn't awaken until they suddenly, at some time or other, melted down into water, and when they did, we were in a very different place."

Niju went on: "But despite the fact that said place, which was what one of the humans present called a very busy street, which is apparently what those things that other ones of them called cars being present by the multitudes in what street this is the case in are, was quite jarring for us to see, given that we'd been in the usual spot where the wolf pack slept just before we were frozen, we were seen by everyone there, and people stopped their cars to come and see both us and what the hell was going on."

Aleu put in after that: "When they saw bits of ice and large puddles around us, they could tell we'd been frozen for a very long time, much like we could. During the time they discussed things and/or continued to look at and/or pet us, which we didn't protest to, since it felt nice and we were in too much of a disoriented state either way, anyway, my mental abilities showed me what had happened to you in the past and thus that you'd had the same thing happen to you that we did to us, and I also found out thanks to them that you'd soon enough wake up after your ice blocks melted, as well, in this very place."

"Because of this, and because we saw that there was a boat that would soon leave for where you were, plus knew it was best that we come to where you were, we began barking and pointing our muzzles towards that boat, and we were fortunate that the humans could tell what we were trying to say, because then they made sure that the boat's captain and crew would see and hear them, and then told them what we'd let them know beforehand. So we were allowed onto the boat after the confused captain still realized that there clearly must be a reason as to why we wanted to go where the boat was headed, and as thanks, we licked and hugged those who had helped us before boarding." Niju stated.

Nava would say after that: "We also, since it would be a long ride, felt we might as well let the ones we were in the same area of the boat in pet us, especially given how it had been quite a rush and we needed to relax, plus petting in all forms, from all people, feels good. So we did, and by the time we got there, it was midafternoon and we saw the perfect direction to go in if we wanted to meet up with you here. As such, the first chance we go, we departed from the boat after giving a licking and hugging thanks to everyone on it, and we got here as fast as we could, knowing that we sure had a lot to tell all of you and catching up aplenty to do, as well."

"We're just glad it was on such a beautiful and sunny day as this, the fact that we're all accustomed to snow, ice, cold and the like notwithstanding." Aleu put across.

She suddenly felt an itch, so she scratched it with her left hind foot and kept talking: "After all, we HAD been in supersized ice cubes for an unknown amount of time, as evidenced both by what we saw and heard before and what we see now! This is such a different kind of place than any I would have expected before, even with meadows in summer that we knew about! Oh, and I failed to mention before…when my mind powers looked into the past, they also found out that the reason we ended up where we did was that the start of our thawing out was how the summer heat made our ice blocks begin to melt in a way so that they slid away from where we were and didn't stop until they were near that busy street, as the people there referred to it as."

"After that, though, there was enough heat to melt the rest of the ice off of us entirely." Niju put forth.

"And so started what we've all just told you about and has led up to what is the case now." Nava spoke.

"Whoa, that's quite a story!" Balto told them while the others nodded. "I'm guessing, though, that since you saw into the past, Aleu, you know how we got here, despite how it was in an entirely different way?"

"Oh, yes, papa." Aleu told her father. "When you were found so much later on by some people, which was of course just before we thawed out, as already made clear, it was believed that, while you'd seemingly frozen to death, being in a thick prison of ice didn't necessarily mean dying, so, unlike so many others, including ones who saw you in your ice containment units but just went by unless they wanted to pay a brief tribute and had time for it, these ones brought you over to this meadow with what was, according to the drivers, called a truck, and a really big one, at that and watched, and, once you began to thaw out and it became clear to them after a time that you were indeed alive, they left in order to let you both regain consciousness, get yourselves back together and adjust to the sudden return to the waking world and place you were in, believing this to be of sufficient heat and enough natural background for bringing you to."

"Wow, how very nice of those humans!" Balto smiled. "Just like it was good of those other ones to aid you when you needed it most!" stated Jenna.

"My God, though, do we have a lot of catching up to do or what?" Kodi asked. "I mean, think of the family reunion that's bound to fucking happen here alone, and then there's how we get things done so that our two new friends join us and the ones we've got here can fit in with them like the newcomers here will fit in with the rest of us."

"Damn right, Kodi!" Aleu spoke. "But hey, it should be wonderful enough, especially since, despite how I miss my sadly now long gone wolf pack so, much like Niju and Nava do, as well…"

She then went from looking sad to become happy, which both Niju and Nava did at the same time as her and each other on both counts, and ran over to her family while saying: "I can't believe I'm back with you all! Even though I loved my wolf alpha life, I deep down was sad because I thought I'd never see any of you again! Thank God it was not so!"

Niju and Nava smiled and watched as Aleu tackled her parents and brothers alike, while Kirby, Dusty and Ralph all burst out laughing while the other five hugged tight and licked all over each other.

After the happy tackle of a lovefest, which seemed like it lasted forever, was finally over, Balto and his family members got back up and Niju and Nava made their way over, and Balto an instant later said: "This is going to be a wonderful new beginning. God knows what will happen during the time it will take to get in touch with everything here, wherever and whenever we are, but we'll find a way to make it work in the best way!"

"Well said, Balto!" Jenna spoke for herself and all of the others present. But little did they know that Steele and his hunter owner had also been frozen before but now had thawed out, their cabin also no longer frozen at all, thanks to the very summer heat that now struck despite how it had never been hot enough to do what melting did it now before.

When they realized what had happened and how the cabin looked nothing like it had before, Steele and his owner were shocked, and they were even more shocked when they heard each other talking in the same clear English as the hunter was able to before.

"What the hell?" the hunter asked. "Where are we, and for that matter, how the fuck did you suddenly gain the ability to talk, boy?"

Steele then replied: "Beats me, but it looks like we're in the cabin…only, it's gone to seed or some such shit? And there's water all over the place? Were we frozen while sleeping?"

"And for that matter, was it frozen, as well?" the hunter asked. "And if so, then how long were we, and it, frozen for, anyway?"

They walked out of the cabin, looking all around and seeing things in the forest, which, while still there, did not look like it had before, and they became further confused.

"Okay, something is definitely wrong here." said Steele's owner. "This is a much different forest than our cabin was in before."

"That, and we could be not only anywhere, but who the hell knows? Maybe anytime!" Steele put in. "Although it is worth pointing out a little something to you that I was about to before sleep hit us and this was followed by the ice imprisonment."

"Really?" the hunter asked, and Steele nodded before explaining: "Before I came back into the cabin on the night we were frozen, I had, albeit from very far away despite it still being in my hearing range, Balto and Jenna talking about both their family, the friends of that family, part of which was a sled dog team from which one of their sons had a mate, from what they said, and, also according to what I heard, they had a daughter who was part of a wolf pack and had run into some rogue wolf. Can't remember the names of the ones my rival and his mate spoke of at all, but I thought it was worth telling you. Wait a second! This gives me quite the idea!"

"What? What do you mean?" asked the hunter.

Steele would say in response: "Provided we find the right tools, equipment, means and time, we can both get you a trophy and make my rival pay for taking away the she-husky who was mine by right and indeed meant for me, and who knows? Maybe it could lead to plenty else, too, the way we might well be in the same place but at a new time and in a new form! That, and I could take Jenna as my own one way or the other, and she could surely be a good second hunting dog for you along with my new mate, no matter how much she needs to be forced to do either or both. Whatever the hell it takes! Oh, my God! I see what I think we'll need right there!"

Sure enough, when Steele went over to what he'd just spotted, it was two poles, two long chains and collars that those chains can be attached to for, well, chaining up a dog if need be! If we can put these together in the way that you can probably tell I'm thinking of, and then capture two of Balto's children, we can make sure of it that at least one of them is gotten rid of and becomes your trophy, while the other returns traumatized to Balto, knowing that the sibling's death was partly because of that other one, whoever it is, and, having paid Balto back for all he did to ruin and humiliate me, I'll also figuratively and literally take Jenna the fuck away from the loser! Your gun will help see to that and the others being forced to leave, Balto or otherwise, just like it will help see to your latest trophy!"

Steele's owner loved the idea, and said: "You know, that sounds like the most excellent thing I've ever heard of in my life, in this new time and place of ours or otherwise, and it's sure to be a great way to start off this new way of life we have. I think the way we were frozen at the same time and are human and dog from the same era as each other is why we can hear one another speak this way, and the other dogs, if they can speak themselves, will doubtlessly hear us talk just as clearly and vice versa! That's all perfect for this plan! We just need to do things the right way at the right time! We start with the poles and the chains."

So Steele brought the first pole to his owner, and, after it was firmly wedged into the ground after the man ran back into the cabin, got his gun and used the butt of it as a small hammer while Steele held it in place to make sure it would stay where they meant it to stay, they did the same thing to the second pole, though they put it at least six feet away from the first one, followed by how the hunter, seeing sharp rocks that could be used as nails to keep the ends of the chains stuck tightly in the poles, picked them up and once more used the butt of his gun to hammer them in each ideal space of the chain ends tied around the poles.

Finally, after doing this part while holding that ideal part of the chain ends around the pole in place on both poles, Steele then said: "Excellent! Now all we need is to find which two of Balto's kids we can kidnap, bring them here and get the collars put on them, then chain them up in full, after which I will come to where I smell the other dogs, Balto or otherwise, and tell them what has happened, so that they will be put in a position that most wouldn't even have a fucking nightmare about, and it just goes uphill for us and downhill for them from there!"

"I have a suggestion for which ones." the hunter said, and Steele told him: "Go on…" A second later, Steele's owner informed him: "Previously, I was on the hunt for who turned out to be one of Balto's children, as I am suddenly recalling despite not remembering it until now. I do believe it was his daughter, and according to what he called her, the bitch's name is Aleu."

"Aleu, huh?" Steele said, then going: "Well, given how you were after her, and knowing what my hated foe and his undeserved mate were saying about her, plus what you just told me, she has to be that only daughter of his, so there's one of the capture targets we've got, especially since the whole wolf thing made it so that it was possible they'd be parted forever, but if she's reunited with him…IF…she'll be a perfect candidate. So will one of his sons, but which one of them?"

"Maybe, should Aleu be alone at one point with one of her brothers, whichever one of Balto's sons that brother is?" suggested the hunter, and Steele smiled: "BINGO! And it's funny that I should fucking say that, since I used to make fun of Balto by calling him Bingo, or at least that was one of the damn ways in which I did so, anyway. So let's hope this is what happens, and if it does, we'll be good and ready for it and thus strike when it's the best time."

Steele's owner nodded, and, much to their delight later on that day, Aleu and Kodi had decided they wanted some playtime with each other, since they were in the mood for some of their first sibling interaction in a long, long, long, long time, especially given how neither of them ever thought that it would happen at all previously.

Neither of them knew it, but Steele and his owner, after finding out about what was now going on, got prepared and ready to strike, and they waited for the precise moment to pull the trigger while watching Aleu and Kodi play together happily.

"Hey, Aleu! Wanna race?" Kodi asked, to which Aleu replied: "Sure! But I'd warn you, my wolf status gives me a speed and stamina advantage!" "So?" Kodi asked. "I've got the iron determination and collectedness greater than yours on my side!"

Before either could get into position to race, Steele suddenly jumped out of the bushes and pounced on Kodi, while the hunter ran out, with his gun in hand, and said: "We meet again, Aleu!"

"What the fuck?!" Aleu exclaimed. "First off, how do you know my name, and second, why can I understand your words like I can those of other canines?"

"Long story, but there's no time to tell it!" the hunter replied, though before he could fire his gun that he had pointed at Aleu, Aleu acted quickly and smacked dirt and rocks at him with a swift swipe and hard hit of her right forepaw into the ground, which proved to be enough to both startle the hunter, cause a bit of pain and blind him just a touch, plus cause him to drop his gun during it all.

Immediately capitalizing on this, Aleu leapt at him and knocked him to the ground, and, by the time that the hunter could see again, it was at the time the impact of him hitting the ground happened and was felt by him.

"UUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHH!" the hunter let loose, and then he looked up to see a vicious looking Aleu, who shouted at the now terrified hunter: "This time, I don't need my papa to fend you off, and it's a far nastier and more permanent way of fending your ass off that I'll be doing here!"

But just then, Steele pounced on Aleu from behind and slammed her face into a tree, knocking her out cold on the spot.

"STEELE?!" let out his owner, and just then, Kodi came running towards Steele as he let out: "Don't you try and run away from me, you bastard! I was just gonna mangle you…but after what you just did to my sister, I'm gonna fucking kill you!"

However, the hunter pointed his gun at Kodi, and while Kodi saw it in time to swerve aside so that the shot fired didn't hit him, the way it missed him only by a hair, as well as the sound made, was enough to cause him to pass out due to how much it frightened him and jolted his heart in the process.

How did this all end up being the case in terms of Kodi and Steele all of a sudden?

During the time that Aleu was facing her foe a second time and turning the tables on him, Kodi and Steele of course had their fight, the way that Steele had pounced on him after flying out of the bushes beforehand.

As they wrestled, proving evenly matched, Kodi said: "What the fuck?! Who the hell are you, and what the fuck are you attacking me and my sister for?!"

"Name's Steele, asshole," Steele replied, "and my owner and I are doing this because we want you and your sister kept with us until your parents and whoever else is with them come to try and save you, though it won't be as simple as that sort of thing usually is!"

"Oh, yeah?!" Kodi barked. "Not on my watch, Steele! You're messing with Kodi here, and I don't let bastards beat me, especially ones like yourselves!"

"Kodi, is that your name?" Steele asked. "Well, let's see you try and keep that fucking record of yours intact, huh, Kodi?"

They tussled, wrestled, fought and brawled hard for quite a bit, but soon enough, they crashed into a tree and both got dazed, since the impact took them by surprise after they'd rolled hard into it at the same time.

By freak chance, Steele got back to normal before Kodi did, and saw what Aleu was about to do to his owner, realizing that she must have somehow got the upper paw on him like that during their own confrontation, so he zoomed and lunged towards Aleu, and that gets us back to where Steele knocked her out after smashing her face into that tree, plus Kodi was about to resume their fight, but the bullet that almost hit him caused him to black out from fear.

"Okay, we have them both!" Steele said. "Aleu and her brother Kodi are ours!"

"That they are!" the hunter said, "and her brother's name is Kodi, is it?"

"Yup." Steele replied while nodding. "I'll go and find Balto, the rest of his family and, if they're there, some friends of his, since I'm guessing you'll be doing the carrying towards and chaining up to the poles of these two clowns."

"You guess right. Let me know when they're coming to try and save their precious pups." his owner confirmed as he picked up his gun and also began taking Aleu and Kodi to where they were meant to be taken.

"Of course." Steele leered, and he turned around, soon picking up Balto's scent, and, just at the time when the hunter had fully chained up Aleu and Kodi, one collar apiece on one pole apiece, collar around neck, chain piece attached, everything, he met up with Balto, Jenna, Dingo, Ralph, Dusty and Kirby.

"Hello there, Bingo. Long time no see." Steele said. "STEELE?!" the ones in front of him all yelled in unison.

"That's my name. Don't wear it out!" Steele sneered, and then Jenna asked: "Why the hell are you here? Wait…if you are, then you were frozen like we were?"

"I sure was." Steele told her, "And so was my master, the same hunter who tried to kill your bitch of a daughter Aleu."

"Don't you dare insult our daughter!" Jenna barked. "You've got some nerve showing your face to any of us at all after what you did, but now you're disrespecting our daughter?!"

"We will neither tolerate that nor allow you to do any more evildoings, Steele!" Balto let loose. "I don't know at all how you ended up here in this place, or how you were frozen before, for that matter, but neither you nor the hunter who now owns you is going to be able to inflict any more harm on this world than either of you already have!"

The others were very confused, so Balto and Jenna explained who Steele was and told the story of what happened with him and them from start to finish.

"What…what sort of monster…can possibly…?!" Niju pushed out of himself with a lot of effort due to how pissed off he was now.

"Even…at his worst…Niju was a fucking saint…compared to you…" growled Nava.

"You…you bastard!" Dingo managed to squeeze out, too livid/furious to further speak.

"I can't fucking believe that anyone could be such a fucking asshole!" Dusty yelled.

"I've…you've…words can't describe how heartless and selfish you are!" barked Ralph.

"The way that…the way that Balto…and Jenna…have to remember you…but now see you again…you motherfucker…!" Kirby snarled.

"It is worth pointing the fuck out to you all that none of you are in any position to be talking to me like that." Steele stated. "Because the way that you said neither me nor my master were going to be able to inflict any more harm on this world than we already have, Balto? Well, we actually already have inflicted more harm. Y'see, we've got the aforementioned Aleu, as well as her brother Kodi, in our clutches as we speak!"

"WHAT?!" all of the ones Steele was talking to yelled in unison, and Steele then continued: "We arranged a plan so that both of them would be captured and chained to a pole apiece, each one six feet apart from the other. My hunter and owner currently has his gun in his hands and is ready to shoot at least one of them, only not doing so yet because of a deal we agreed to in order to make things a bit more interesting. Oh, and by the way, due to how you all are from the same time period that he and I am despite how we're now in a much different time, you can all understand him just as well as he understands me, and vice versa. So nothing will be incapable of being comprehended here."

"Bull, Steele! We don't believe you at all!" Balto snapped.

"You're lying again in order to try and get us to bend to your evil will!" Jenna snarled. "It won't work!"

But before anyone else could come at Steele, it turned out that, just after the hunter finished chaining Aleu and Kodi up, they were starting to come to, and Steele heard his owner call him: "Steele! They're chained up and are also awakening as we speak! You'd better get the other dogs over here quick so that this can work out as we're meaning it to!"

"Am I lying this time?" Steele asked. "Do you still disbelieve me?"

He then turned around, looking back at the others, and said: "If you want there to be any hope of survival for either one of your captured kids, Balto, Jenna, then you and those others had best fucking follow me!"

Knowing that they couldn't take any chances, they did as Steele said while ignoring how much they hated this and wanted to nail him, and, the instant they saw the hunter, his owner, as well.

They knew, however, that this wasn't an option.

Not with Kodi and Aleu's lives on the line being possible, and, when they got to where Steele was leading them, it became clear to them that this was indeed the case.

"Hello there, sled dogs. Wolf dog. Husky. Son of the latter two." Steele's owner said to them. "As Steele may have told you, we have captured both of the ones you see chained up here before you. So, then. Here's how the hell it's goddamn going to go the fuck down. Everyone listening? You can either save the she-wolf Aleu or the lead sled dog Kodi. Let's see what each one has to say about all of this first, though. One of you go right ahead towards whoever you choose to between the two of them."

Balto, suddenly seized by how much he'd missed his daughter and vice versa, plus really shaken and torn at hard by the very thought of losing her again, went over to where Aleu was, but just as he was halfway there, Aleu stopped him with the words: "Papa, keep back! Don't bite this chain! If you do, Steele will smash dirt into Kodi's face and his owner will shoot him dead! Don't allow this to happen! We might have missed each other so, but I don't want to live the rest of my life haunted by the knowledge that I was the reason Kodi died! Save him! Let me be killed!"

Before Balto could respond verbally or physically, he and Aleu both saw Jenna go for where Kodi stood, but she stopped short by the time she'd covered half as much distance as it would take to reach him thanks to Kodi saying: "No! Mom, no! Stay away! If you bite my chain, Steele will whack soil in Aleu's face and that hunter will gun her down immediately thereafter! Do not lose Aleu again, especially in a permanent, irreversible way! I could not possibly live with myself if I knew I was the cause of my sister's death! Rescue Aleu! Allow it to be so that I am the one who gets offed!"

The other canines present were now, understandably and unsurprisingly, having what was to be considered nothing short of a moral/ethical dilemma, and, as their emotions, spirits and minds alike were torn at and tortured to an immeasurable extent, they wracked their brains hard to try and find a means to make sure neither of their children died, both of them lived and Steele was defeated and once and for all along with his owner.

But, while they did this, both to themselves and, as softly as possible, towards each other via whispering, they were suddenly alerted again as Steele then stated: "You had best make your choice fast, Balto, Jenna, Niju, Dusty, Ralph, Kirby, Nava. It can only be one offspring of yours, and don't go thinking there might be a way you can dance your way around this and get them both out of this. There isn't. So one of you losers had best make your decision before we decide to dispose of them both."

TO BE CONTINUED…

Wow, what a story, huh? And it's not even over yet!

Because along with how I want ratings and reviews having to do with how much you liked this first chapter, I also want votes as to who you would like to be saved, since there is not going to be a third option, I am sorry to say.

Yup, it's a contest of who will live and who will die between Kodi and Aleu, and, since I want to give Balto fans, whether they are fans of Kodi, fans of Aleu, both or neither, enough time to give votes and not feel crammed or hurried or anything like that, plus this sort of thing is very fitting for Halloween, everyone who wants to give votes has until this year's October 31st to declare which one of the unfortunate captured children of Balto will be saved and which one will be killed.

There are two versions of the second chapter I can make, and which one becomes the second chapter is up to whoever decides to be one of the voters.

If you vote for Kodi and against Aleu, put in your review the words "SAVE KODI, LET ALEU BE KILLED", and I DO want it in the form of capital letters like the ones shown about for those words, by the way.

And if you vote for Aleu and against Kodi, put in your review the words "SAVE ALEU, LET KODI PERISH". Again, I want it in the form of capital letters.

Additionally, when you give your review votes, I would like you to say why you want Kodi saved and Aleu offed, or, if it's the other way around, I would like you to tell me why you wish Aleu to live and Kodi to die.

Rate and review please, everybody, and don't forget to tell me who it would be you saved if you were forced to pick only one to survive and the other to die, and the reason for that being the case along with the regular review on how you feel about this fanfic!


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, everyone! It's October 31st/Halloween!

And that means, in terms of choosing the survivor of this story "Who'll It Be" involving whether it is Aleu or Kodi who dies, that your time's up!

And, since Aleu was given one vote way back and, up to now, Kodi was given not a one, that means that you have chosen Aleu to survive!

NOTE WELL:

I own none of the characters. They all belong to the Balto franchise.

Who'll It Be?

THE CONCLUSION

Despite how it tortured them to have to choose one of them and only one of them thanks to how there was no way in hell that anybody in that heroic canine group could possibly save them both in time, plus took quite a long, lengthy, seemingly unending amount of time for anyone to think of who to save, they soon heard Steele say: "Your time is running out!"

They all suddenly opened their eyes widely following these words, then started wracking their brains worse than ever, but when they heard the hunter say: "Hurry up before I kill them both just to be sure, though I'm tempted to kill the she-wolf here and would if it were my choice and not any of yours!" a sudden eagerness to make sure that he would not lose his only daughter again, especially by death, seized Balto.

But, though he knew how selfish it would be to act on said eagerness, the fact he would miss Aleu so much and that same Aleu deserving to live notwithstanding, and thus was unselfish in trying to think of a way that would save them both in time, if he could, Ralph, all of a sudden seized by how he needed to save the first one of them who came to mind as to who should live, and that one being Aleu(though it could have just as easily have been Kodi, mind you, this was freak chance that attacked his mind)because no one could allow both of them to lose their lives, acted differently.

He was suddenly going for where Aleu was, yelling as he did so: "Words can't describe how sorry I am, Kodi, and this is applied to every other dog trapped in this horrible spot! Please let that be known to all of you unless you're that asshole hunter and/or that son of a bitch Steele!" making his way to Aleu and closing his mouth on her chain, and Kodi opened his eyes widely, while Aleu opened hers even more widely.

"AHA! The choice has been made, Steele!" said the hunter as he saw Ralph bite Kodi's chain and then he said to Steele: "Do your thing!"

"With pleasure!" Steele shouted as he whacked dirt into Kodi's face, causing the latter to go: "AAAUUUUGGGGUUUAAFFFF!" and, just after Kodi yelled: "I WILL ALWAYS LOVE ALL OF YOU IN MY FAMILY, AND REMEMBER YOU WHO ARE MY FRIENDS, ESPECIALLY YOU, DUSTY!" the hunter shot Kodi through the skull, killing him instantly.

" **KODI! NO!** " Aleu screamed in unison with everyone else, except for Ralph, who was silent both because of how full of shame and remorse he was and due to how it tortured him to have to cause the death of either one, and now it was torturing him worse than ever, especially since he knew how much the others would hate him, even though it was either that or both of Balto's captured children being gunned down(the fact that, again, it could have just as easily been Kodi who became the one he would save, was a shitload of salt in an gapingly open would).

The hunter, after hearing this, went: "Well, would you look at that? How amazing is the irony here!"

After Kodi had been gunned down, the bullet finding its way into his forehead having made it so that he flopped over like the corpse he now was, the chain was twisted, causing him to fall onto his back.

Steele subsequently stated: "It's clear that big boy here could have gone to save either one, though obviously not both, which made him torn between them just as much as the rest of you are, but I guess a sudden coming to mind of Aleu, despite the fact that there was an equal chance of Kodi coming to mind all of a sudden, hit him just then, so he quickly bit her chain and saved her skin while signing her brother's death warrant. Freak chance killed Kodi, even though Aleu here, being part wolf like she is, is the freak! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

Aleu, after having screamed in horror about this along with everyone else, now hung her head while she was unchained and said: "KODI…" in a sadness laden tone of voice, and after that, she burst into tears of mourning, which Balto then did along with Jenna and Dingo, and, though not quite as much as those others, Ralph, followed by the others who Steele had forced into this along with the hunter, with Steele saying: "I guess you decided it was better to do what Balto was tempted to do, since losing one of his sons is something that would hurt him far less than to be separated from his only daughter again, eh? Or at least you must have thought that, given what you just did, big guy! Oh, hell, you don't know that, and you may never know it, or at least take one hell of a long time to, but one way or the other, it must have flashed across your mind! Maybe you even wanted Dusty while Kodi had her! Or maybe not! But on that count, as well, you'll really never know for sure! In any case, you saved her at the cost of Kodi's life, you oversized meathead!"

Aleu's crying grew to be harder than the others, which is quite a statement, and, when she mustered up enough ability to speak while still having rapids of tears going down her cheeks, the she-wolf blew up at Ralph: "FUCK YOU, YOU OVERGROWN OAF! I KNOW WHY THE HELL YOU FUCKING DID THIS, DESPITE HOW YOU MIGHT NOT REALIZE WHY THAT SUDDEN DECISION TO SAVE ME HIT YOUR MIND, AND HOW IT WOULD SEEM LIKE THE BEST THAT ANY OF US COULD FUCKING HOPE FOR, BUT I STILL FUCKING HATE YOU, EVEN THOUGH I DON'T WANT TO FUCKING HATE YOU AT ALL, NOR FUCKING HATE ANYONE HERE BUT THE FUCKING HUNTER AND STEELE, BECAUSE, THOUGH YOU MAY NOT HAVE FUCKING INTENDED IT THAT WAY, WHAT YOU DID JUST NOW WAS SO FUCKING SELFISH!"

Ralph's eyes flew open widely and he exclaimed: "SELFISH?! Aleu, what are you talking about? I saved you and, besides how I don't know what you mean when you say that something hit my mind, we both know that I would have saved Kodi if there was enough time, just like the others here do!"

"OF COURSE YOU WOULD HAVE!" wailed Aleu. "BUT THERE WAS ONLY TIME FOR ONE OF US, AND YOU PICKED THE FUCKING ONE OF US WHO'D BOTH BEEN ABSENT FOR SO LONG AND WAS PAPA'S SINGULAR DAUGHTER! IT WAS, AFTER ALL, A VERY EMPTY HOLE IN HIM THAT I'D BE GONE, SEEMINGLY FOREVER, THOUGH IT TURNED THE FUCK OUT NOT TO BE SO, BUT STILL, AND HE LOVED HIS SONS, BUT DEEP DOWN WANTED HIS DAUGHTER BACK WITH HIM DESPITE ACCEPTING WHAT WAS TO, AGAIN, APPARENTLY, BUT NOT ACTUALLY, BE THE FUCKING CASE FOR ALL TIME! SO YOU DECIDED THAT YOU WOULD LET ONE OF PAPA'S SONS DIE FOR THE SAKE OF HIS ONE DAUGHTER STAYING ALIVE! SO SELFISHNESS MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN YOUR INTENT, NOR WHAT YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE PERFORMING AN ACT OF AND, IRONICALLY, DIDN'T REALIZE THAT YOU WERE THINKING IT, BUT IT WAS STILL A MASSIVELY SELFISH THING TO DO, ESPECIALLY SINCE HE WAS TEMPTED BUT DID THE UNSELFISH THING AND TRIED TO SEE IF HE COULD THINK UP A WAY TO SAVE US BOTH, BUT IT DIDN'T MOTHERFUCKING MATTER IN THE FUCKING END, DID IT, RALPH? ALL BECAUSE YOU CUT IT SHORT AND GOT ME OUT OF THIS FOR HIM! AND NOW, DESPITE HOW I WOULD HAVE GIVEN UP MY LIFE SO THAT KODI'S MIGHT CONTINUE, MAKING IT SO THAT THE LAST THINGS THAT I EVER FUCKING SAID WOULD BE HOW I STILL LOVED YOU ALL AND HOW MUCH IT HURT TO HAVE TO DEPART AGAIN AND THIS TIME FOREVER, I HAVE TO FUCKING SPEND THE REST OF MY NOW TARNISHED LIFE KNOWING THAT I WAS THE FUCKING REASON THAT KODI LOST HIS! I'M INCESSANTLY UNABLE TO LIVE WITH MYSELF! AND YOU MADE IT THAT WAY! AGAIN, YOU DIDN'T WANT OR MEAN TO AT ALL, AND I WISH I DIDN'T HAVE TO HATE YOU, BUT, SADLY, BOTH OF THOSE THINGS ARE STILL TRUE! STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME BY AT LEAST FOUR METERS AT ALL FUCKING TIMES! PAPA WON'T BE ANY BETTER OFF THAN ME, AND NEITHER WILL MOM OR MY REMAINING BROTHERS! YOU DID WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN SELFISH OF HIM BUT INSTEAD WAS SELFISH OF YOU BECAUSE OF ALL OF THAT DESPITE HOW HE TOOK THE ALTRUSTIC, ALBEIT RISKY, ROUTE INSTEAD! DUSTY HAS LOST HER MATE JUST AS MUCH AS I'VE LOST MY BROTHER, TO ADD INSULT TO INJURY! GO TO HELL, YOU SELFISH BASTARD!"

Aleu's tears now flooded everything within two feet of where she was standing, and now, as she could do currently do nothing but cry, Dusty turned to Ralph and said: "LET'S NOT FORGET, JUST LIKE ALEU SAID, HOW YOU TOOK AWAY MY LOVE, AS WELL! ALONG WITH HOW YOU HAVE ALSO, AT TIMES IN THE PAST, SHOWN FEELINGS FOR ME AND MIGHT HAVE ALSO DECIDED TO SAVE ALEU INSTEAD OF KODI AS A RESULT OF THIS! MAYBE I'M WRONG! IT MOST LIKELY WASN'T THE REASON YOUR DECISION TO SAVE ALEU CAME TO MIND AND, ALSO JUST LIKE ALEU SAID, IT COULD HAVE JUST AS EASILY BEEN A DECISION FOR SAVING KODI INSTEAD OF HER! WELL, YOU KNOW THE FUCK WHAT? EITHER WAY ON EITHER COUNT, I SURE AS HELL WILL NEVER BE YOURS, YOU ASSHOLE!NOTHING CAN EVER BRING KODI BACK! HE'S GONE FOREVER, AND IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF YOU! IT MIGHT ONLY BE A PAPER THIN, IF EVEN EXISTENT IN THE SLIGHTEST, POSSIBILITY THAT YOU SECRETLY LONG FOR ME, BUT THIS ALMOST NONEXISTENT POSSIBILITY, AS WELL AS HOW YOU CLEARLY THOUGHT YOU WERE DOING BALTO A FAVOR HERE, BUT INSTEAD MAKING THINGS WORSE FOR HIM WITHOUT KNOWING THAT, SAW TO THIS! NONE OF US CAN BELIEVE YOUR OVERSIZED ASS!"

Ralph couldn't bear to look at anyone just now, as the already excruciating realization of what he didn't think was true at all before, previously not knowing that what he did was the selfish decision when he saved Aleu, and made things worse for Balto, Jenna, Dingo and the other members of Aleu's family instead of better in the process, hit him so hard in terms of making it worse that it can't be described in the slightest/least bit, especially given how he was unable to tell whether it had anything to do with feelings he showed for Dusty from time to time or not.

That, and don't think that Niju was the least bit silent or anything short of intensely vocal about this.

Because, as he went over and ignored the puddles of already shed tears he stepped in and did all that he could to comfort/console the loudly crying Aleu, he looked at Ralph and began barking in a deep and terrible rage: "LET'S NOT FUCKING FORGET THAT I CAN'T BE HAPPY WITH HAVING ALEU AS MY MATE LIKE I FUCKING WAS BEFORE ANY LONGER, NOR VICE VERSA, BECAUSE THE FUCKING KNOWLEDGE THAT DUSTY HAS NO MATE ANY LONGER, IN STARK CONTRAST TO HOW I DO, IS GOING TO FUCKING RIP AT ME ON THE INSIDE FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE, JUST LIKE IT'LL DO TO POOR ALEU HERE, WHO I CAN ONLY TRY AND COMFORT TO THE FUCKING EXTENT I CAN, AND CHANCES ARE THAT ISN'T A WHOLE LOT OF A FUCKING EXTENT!"

Now he burst into tears, and was going to soon after Kodi's death, much like all others present who weren't Steele or his owners were, and they did so, as well, with Steele then saying to them: "Ah, how your crying is music to my ears! And that of my owner, as well! I do believe I'll lap up all of the tears from each of you as a post-victory drink and part of a post-victory celebration for both my owner and myself!"

But Steele had just said exactly the wrong thing at exactly the wrong time, which he realized all of a sudden along with his master when, immediately after he said this, he saw Ralph charging towards him in the most livid fury he'd ever been in, while Balto ran at the hunter, who was just as surprised as Steele was while seeing Ralph coming for him.

Tackling Steele, Ralph said: "Balto beat you before! And now that I've made things hurt worse for him despite how the opposite was my intent and, ironically, there was just as much of a chance that I could have decided to save Kodi instead of Aleu, I'm making them hurt for you worst of all!"

Steele fought back, of course, with it being that they were both inflicting claw, tooth and paw smack injuries on each other, as well as strangling and wrestling one another hard, and, every chance he saw, one of them slamming into each other to knock the other down.

At first, anyway, during which time Steele was saying: "Be so fucking good as to fucking tell me, Ralph…isn't it unbelievable that you would follow in Kodi's footsteps by fighting me when I was part of what caused you to kill him by sudden freak chance? And ironic as hell that, if you'd chosen to save Kodi instead of Aleu, everyone would still hate you, especially Niju and Balto, despite your good intentions as far as the latter was fucking concerned?" he was overpowered by Ralph, since Steele had been evenly matched with Kodi, and Ralph was noticeably bigger and stronger than Kodi was.

So during the time Steele let loose some evil laughter, it went as follows: "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, haAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!"

Ralph now had him dead to rights, saying: "I now avenge Kodi in the ultimate irony, as it was me who caused his death despite not wanting to do that or be the cause of Aleu's death at all, and I certainly didn't want to motherfucking make things worse, which I sadly did, and so I now kill someone who's made things infinitely worse in two instances concerning two different things, this one being the second, to atone for that and show how much I will do to further atone for it if that is possible! That Kodi wanted Aleu to live and selflessly told us to save her and let him die only compounds all of this and adds to the fucking irony! Go to hell, Steele!"

During this time of viciously saying what he did, Ralph was breaking every bone in Steele's body and tearing into his balls, the tip of his cock and vertically down there and his throat, as well, plus he was eviscerating him and smashing his head on the ground repeatedly, with Steele being unable and indeed helpless to do anything but howl out in total agony: "EEEEEEEEEEEEE-RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

After Ralph's claws and teeth had done their jobs, Steele's screams were silenced as he was now a casserole-like corpse, and Ralph smiled despite how he was still in a lot of pain, to some extent now physically but still much more emotionally and mentally, namely, just as much as he'd been in before for obvious reasons.

"This was for you, Kodi." Ralph said, looking up to the sky as he did so. "I know that you wanted Aleu to live and so are undoubtedly glad I saved her as you selflessly made it clear that she was the one who needed to be saved, despite it being vice versa in that case, as well, and this was also for Balto, the way that I wanted to make things better for him but ended up failing as miserably as making them worse. The way that such freak chance would happen as this…sigh…but if you die, Steele dies, and he just has. That he was your dad's rival before and after he showed up here and tried to kill him decades back only adds to such a fact. I only hope that this makes your sacrifice feel better than it did before. I can hear your aforementioned father taking on that hunter. Hopefully said hunter gets his via a nasty death like Steele just did. Words can't describe how sorry and remorseful I'll forever be for making it so that you lost your life, though, and, quite frankly, I wish that I were dead, too. At least I did us both a vast favor, although it was supposed to be much more of one for you than for me, so I hope it was exactly that. Please forgive me if you can."

Meanwhile, and at the same time as Ralph's fight with Steele, what Ralph could hear was indeed occurring, as Balto snarled at the hunter who had made Steele his pet: "Way back when, you almost killed my only daughter, Aleu, but I saved her by fending you off. Much more recently, as I could tell by how you looked when you and Steele showed up to inform us of all of this, she took you down without needing anyone's aid, mine or otherwise. That Steele looked like he'd been fought in an even as hell match with my son confirmed that easily, given how his signs of battle looked a lot like yours, And now you've killed that one of my sons, thanks to how Ralph suddenly made the choice of saving her, something which son's pleads, were, ironically, aimed towards. Now you pay for what you've done to my family. I'm usually not a guy who enjoys any kind of violence, let alone the kind I'm about to unleash upon your ass, but I am unable not to make an exception in your case, especially since I hear Ralph making Steele pay for what you and him have caused, just like I'm about to make you pay for that."

"Big talk, bigmouth." the hunter sneered in response. "But here are two much smaller but also much more powerful mouths for you. Very lethal. And about to make you, in the ultimate irony of ironies, join the one of your sons who you speak of."

Just as he had his gun in position though, he didn't even have time to blink, as Balto had run right the fuck up to him and drove into him so hard that he knocked the wind right out of him, and while the hunter dropped his gun, it was in a way so that he unintentionally blew his guts out of the top of his head thanks to the trigger being pulled when its mouths were pointed at his asshole in yet another instance of freak chance.

So many of those there had been, and this latest one of them sealed the hunter's fate along with Balto's attack, especially since the trigger that his, well, trigger finger had been caught on repeatedly pulled that trigger due to what kind of position he and his gun were in, and by the time it was out of bullets, both his brains and his guts had been blown out, with Balto then ripping him in half with his claws at the same time as biting his head off.

"ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the hunter screamed during it all, and once his screams and any and all other sounds that he might have made otherwise were eternally put a stop to, his pieces and now empty gun alike fell down onto the ground.

Balto subsequently said, looking up to the sky just like Ralph had after killing Steele: "That was for Kodi, and, although to a much lesser, to the point of being all but nonexistent, extent, Ralph, given that the latter wanted to make things better for me despite making them worse and could have chosen Kodi as the one who lived every bit as easily as he could have chosen Aleu like he did, his decision to save the latter being so sudden and abrupt and how he's so sorry and agonized about causing Kodi to die, which, ironically, he would have been if he caused Aleu to die, instead, probably for the rest of his life. I almost pity him. Almost, though if you are able to, please forgive him. I have avenged you, Kodi. This hunter would not stay alive while you were dead, and indeed he is dead. I am rarely like this and, in fact, almost always much nicer than this, but it was inevitably going to be an exception after what that hunter did to you and what it resulted in. But now it's over, just like his sorry, wretched life is, and, from what I can hear just now, Ralph has taken Steele out permanently, as well, just like I, even if without killing him, defeated him in battle decades ago, so Kodi's been avenged both by his immediate family and his once-friend, now sem-friend. And in a way most fitting on Ralph's part and my own. I rarely speak like I'm about to, but…go to hell, you bastard. And while you watch from heaven, Kodi, I know you see that your old man has made sure of it that this vile son of a bitch will never threaten anything or anyone again. God rest your soul. I will miss you terribly, but you will always be in my heart and that of all the rest of us, especially Jenna, Dingo and Aleu, the latter of whom you selflessly saved, just like she would have done for you despite how you and the rest of us would have missed her so every bit as much. You'll never be forgotten and the ones who led to your death have paid the price."

After it was all done, all of the other canines who were there congratulated Balto and Ralph for what they'd done and what the hell it meant, though the former infinitely more so for obviously reasons, something which Ralph sucked up and dealt with.

Once the commendation was done, Niju said: "Let's give a howling requiem for Kodi and then find a means to give him a proper burial in the part of Nome in which he and the bulk of us lived prior to our being frozen."

It was unanimously agreed to and all of the canines did just that, making sure that they had Kodi's body put in the center of the circle that they formed before they let that howling requiem loose.

As soon as they were finished, Aleu said: "Okay, guys, time to take Kodi home and see him buried in the best way in the most appropriate spot. Put him on my back so that I can carry his body. I owe him my life despite how I wish that were not so and indeed was the other way around, since I would have happily sacrificed myself if it meant my brother would live."

She glared and growled at Ralph, who, again, sucked it up and dealt with it, and it was Jenna who, with the help of Niju, hoisted up Kodi's corpse and placed it on Aleu's back, with Balto then saying: "All right, let's go to the new version of our home and see to it that we are accepted as resident, albeit pet canine ones, there by God knows what human replacements live there now, and that they give us a spot to bury Kodi's now tragically lifeless body."

As soon as they had gotten there, they were lucky enough so that, by that point, every human and animal alike present had learned all about their arrival from being frozen, so they would be accepted as dogs and wolves who lived there, but despite their initially friendly and happy greetings, they then saw Kodi's corpse and the hole in his head, realizing what had to have happened at one point or another by one awful bastard or another, and they led them to the best place to bury Kodi's corpse that they could find.

Once it was time to give Kodi his final resting spot, Jenna said: "Okay, Aleu, when Dingo and myself dig up the hole for Kodi's grave, just bend over and let it slide in. After that, Kirby and Dusty will push the dirt back in."

Everyone nodded, and as soon as everything had been done, Kodi's body was buried in his, albeit sans tombstone, grave, and Nava said: "Let's all put in a final word for him before we leave."

Unanimous agreement ensued once more, and Balto said: "I will never forget or stop missing you, my son. You were an integral part of our family, and it will never be the same or feel complete without you. There is an everlasting hole and indeed something permanently missing from now on thanks to your death, which, ironically, would have been the case on exactly the same level on all counts of it had been Aleu who died instead of you. Your altruism is something you should be given kudos for, and we would do just that if we weren't so saddened and torn open by how you got killed thanks to that selflessness which led to your life being given for Aleu's."

Next, Jenna said: "The same goes for me, Kodi. And the rest of us, as well. You were a beloved addition to my litter. Even as I love Dingo, Aleu and Balto just as much as I love you, it doesn't decrease how torturous it is to know that I will be without you forever, though not in every single way, since I refuse to forget you and will never always have your spirit alongside my own and vice versa."

Aleu followed it up with: "I thank you for saving my life, but I still wish I could have given mine for yours. I'm going to be so sad without you here, dear brother. I don't know how I'm going to get by, and though I will somehow, it's not going to be the least bit easy. Just like it's not going to be anything short of arduous living a life that you sacrificed yours for, even with comfort from my family and mate alike. Goodbye, Kodi. God bless your selfless soul."

After that, there was Dingo, who told him: "Rest in peace, bro. You'll always be in our memories and hearts alike. I will miss you to a point that no one could possibly picture existing at all, nor could I until now, but at least it shows that, just like is the case with Aleu, you will always be my brother."

Next up, Nava stated: "Despite how I am in my final years of life, I wish that I could be the dead one for that reason and all others I have along with the rest of the ones here and not you. But you'll be remembered with much respect."

Kirby would go afterwards: "You were a great leader of our sled team, Kodi. Whoever takes your spot thanks to that being a necessity, he or she could never compare to you as that leader, not even your salvaged sister who you sacrificed yourself for."

After Kirby, Niju said to Kodi: "While I will still always love Aleu and be grateful you gave your life for her own thanks to being unable to help but be, it still hurts like hell to know that it cost you your life and what that will mean for her and myself. I wish you didn't have to give your life at all instead of us finding a way to save you both."

This was succeeded by Ralph saying: "Words can't describe how profusely I apologize for how I freaked and saved Aleu while wanting and failing to make things better for your father, thereby giving you a death sentence, even though that was the last thing I wanted to do to either of you. I'll understand if you never forgive my idiotic, thoughtless foolishness, though I hope you will."

Finally, Dusty said to him: "Kodi, I will not pretend I don't want you back, but I know that bringing you back to life would be disrespectful, and I will not disrespect the one who was my mate while alive. Not anyone who's a friend and/or family member would I ever show such disrespect to, but least of all you, love. Do not think that I won't always keep your memory with me in every spot that I can. The others will, and so will I, but I will do so more than any of them."

While shedding tears once more, they gave another howling requiem for him and, just thereafter, saw a pile of rocks and got an idea, quickly capitalizing on it and making it so that they placed rock after rock firmly enough into the part of the ground where Kodi had been buried so that none could be dislodged no matter what would happen in the future, and of course it was done in a way so that it would form into and indeed spell out Kodi's name.

While they then were in a good enough, happy enough(at least to as far as an extent as it was possible for any and every one of them to be happy, anyway)lifestyle as pets and/or sled dogs for the citizens living in that new version of which part of Nome was Balto, Jenna, Dusty, Ralph, Kirby and, until he died, Kodi's home, with Aleu, Nava and Niju now having it as their home, as well(though Aleu briefly had it as her home before), there would always be something missing in each one of them, and they did what they could to ignore it, all while the ones who they were most frequently alongside, human or otherwise, who knew about what happened to Kodi comforted them as often as possible and as much as possible, invariably causing the sad, empty feeling to go away for a little while after such things were done for them.

Needless to say, this was the best kind of new life that they could have gotten after all that had occurred, and it did at least help in terms of things concerning Kodi with their knowledge of how he was in heaven, while his diabolical duo of killers were in hell.

One day, Ralph was near his home, seeing Dusty come on over to him, much to his surprise. "Dusty?" he asked.

"Yes, Ralph." she replied. "It's been quite some time since, despite Aleu and I allowing you to at least be near us as part of sled dog team which she's become the leader of in Kodi's place, thanks to it being a necessity and you doing all you could to show how sorry you were for what happened to Kodi and paying him respects aplenty, still didn't want you to speak to us unless it was absolutely necessary, and we made it clear that it would be that way for, at the very least, a while."

"And, from what you're doing and saying now, I'm guessing that while's up." Ralph said.

Dusty then told him: "For the most part, yes, though there will, for a shorter, but still noticeably long amount of time, be far between points here and there where we will disallow you to converse with either one of us, and we'll make sure you know at once when any such time comes, whether it is Aleu, myself or us both. Currently, however, it's obviously not one of those times, and you'll be quite surprised when you find out why I came to see you."

"Why's that?" Ralph asked, to which Dusty replied: "You had some feelings for me despite how I was fully committed to Kodi and vice versa until he lost his life thanks to your recklessness, even though it was you freaking out when we were suddenly, well, out of time during the cruel choice that the thankfully now dead and in hell Steele and his monstrous hunter of an owner presented us with, and not a way to get me for yourself."

"Wait a minute…you're not suggesting I become his replacement for your mate, are you?" exclaimed Ralph. "Please tell me you're not. That just isn't right."

"Of course not, on both counts." Dusty told him. "I am, however, thanks to how you made it clear that you didn't want to kill Kodi or Aleu and weren't choosing to get rid of the former in order for me to be your mate instead of his, and it's proven itself to be absolutely true overtime with how things have gone on, whether it directly concerns you and/or me or otherwise, plus Aleu and Niju being together has incessantly torn at us both for every reason that it can, even though neither wants that, their having what happiness they can as part of their unending love for each other notwithstanding, going to give you this."

She subsequently licked Ralph's face, much to his alarm, and told him: "That ought to polish off anything and everything as far as what feelings you had for me, which you were good to ignore because of knowing that I was just as happy with Kodi as he was with me when Kodi was alive, and how you die inside whenever you see Aleu and vice versa thanks to how she's only alive because of your sudden freaking out and what it led to. So you deserved at least that. Do not, however, try to show your gratitude by licking me. You're thankful, to be sure, but the way that you said becoming my new mate wasn't right? Well, licking me back wouldn't be right, either."

"I fully understand what you are saying on all counts, and thank you for the lick that I can now keep with me forever, though I will do everything I can to ignore the fact that it was how Kodi died because of me that led to it, another thing I do done out of respect for how he was your chosen mate and not me, with or without me having some feelings for you."

"You're quite welcome, and my thanks to you on the latter count. As well as how much solemn respect you've shown Kodi posthumously. See you around, Ralph." said Dusty before departing, while Ralph said: "See you around, Dusty."

Things fluctuated between getting and/or feeling better and staying the same as they were, but any and all who had known Kodi knew that he would always be watching over them, especially his family, as well as Dusty, and, though Ralph was watched over less than the others because of what had happened as the next of the freak chances at the time, Kodi did forgive him and was, ironically, actually grateful that he saved his sister's life even though it cost him his own and he'd wished, like the others, that there was a way that neither he nor Aleu had to die, the way that it was good to know that Steele and his malevolent master getting what for and put in hell notwithstanding.

And, of course, there were times aplenty in which one or more of Kodi's closest ones, but most frequently one or more of his family members and/or Dusty, of course, would go to the burial site which they formed for him, and look up to heaven, whether they also spoke and/or howled to and towards him or not(they never failed to shed tears for him, but they felt his spiritual essence comfort them every time it happened).

THE SIMUTANEOUSLY HAPPY AND SAD ENDING

Well, that's that, everybody!

I do hope that both this chapter and the one before were a good enough read, and now I hope for reviews and ratings, please!

Sorry that the ending had to be only half happy and inevitably was going to be half-sad, but I hope that I made things as good for said ending as I could.

As you can probably tell, I was making sure to respect Kodi/Dusty fans(which I'm one of myself, btw)and at least acknowledge and be fair to Ralph/Dusty fans despite how they are far fewer with how I made the bulk of the ending.

Ironic, since I'm an even bigger fan of Niju/Aleu(especially since the latter is my favorite Balto trilogy character), but you get the point here.

Happy Halloween, everyone!


End file.
